Can I move out on my own with 1600-1800 a month income?

[harlemtothebronx]

I moved out with about 4 grand in my bank account back in June. I have a roommate and live in Queens 5 mins from the city.

Had to pay first + last months rent + a one month rent fee for the real estate agent. I had a horrible time looking at places on my own. The agent made it crazy easy. To move in, I dropped about 2325. Considering that you also have to worry about your ongoing bills (phone or whatever else you have) then you have to set up cable/Internet/electricity, I'd say stack a little more. It's tough out here. A 1br for $900/mo anywhere in NYC will be hard to find. It'll probably end up being a terrible spot in the Bronx.

I pay $825/mo for rent (little more than half for the bigger bedroom) and split everything else. It's not too bad. Just have to prioritize. I actually just managed to fill out my living room.

 

[alchemist iq]

I'm trying move out my parents house as well. live in NYC and stacking my money. I'm moving out with my trustworthy best friend so we gonna be splitting on the rent and anything we can support each other in. I'm honestly saying a hate living with my parents its becoming a burden for me and life i want to live. I know it will comes with struggle but i rather just struggle then live with my parents. You gotta find a roommate though, you gotta caking like crazy to be living on your own in NYC. The responses of people saying "Don't do it" doesn't understand the scope of your situation and why you want to move out. Do it on your own accord and prove everyone wrong.

 

[AZwildcats]

$1000 for a one bedroom :x

In AZ a one bedroom can be found for $400-$450.

 

[stoneyjax]

i couldnt make it on that and im in Virginia

 

[universityblue]

If you move to upstate ny it could happen.. rent in bing, syracuse, utica is about 500-700 a month for 2 br, nothing modern tho.. and cold as f8ck..

 

[jasroberts21]

If you move to upstate ny it could happen.. rent in bing, syracuse, utica is about 500-700 a month for 2 br, nothing modern tho.. and cold as f8ck..

I can attest to this. Went to Bing for my undergrad, going there for my masters now. I live in a house with a bunch of my friends right now for 380, includes utilities and internet. I've lived at places for 300. Not the nicest but for a poor college student, it gets the job done.

and yeah... the weather in binghamton is horrendous.

 

[jhawk826]

If you move to upstate ny it could happen.. rent in bing, syracuse, utica is about 500-700 a month for 2 br, nothing modern tho.. and cold as f8ck..

No one wants to live up there. This is coming from someone who went to school up there.

 

[semf]

my rule of thumb, your rent and monthly bills should be no more than 50% of your monthly income . . . so your income and NOT the area you live in / want to live in should determine if you can get your own place.

save up AT LEAST 3 month's worth of monthly expenses for an emergency fund (so if you get fired / laid off, you can still pay the rent / the bills for 3 months and give you time to find new work).

can you get roommates?

 

[mkc1983]

maybe if u rent a room in a rooming house for less than 550/month, otherwise i suggest u save up

 

[Jordan8]

Save a good 10 to 12 months of that before you step out.

 

[nazdrowie]

I make about $2,000 a month after taxes and pay $700 rent (utilities included) to live in the basement of a house in Silver Spring, MD. I have two house mates. Also, my girlfriend was living with me for the past few months but she just got her own place in DC.

Not directed at anyone but I ******g hate the DC area rental market

DC urea rental market is so much worse than NYC because you are still paying a **** ton for certain far away locations. At least with NY you have access to the subway and extensive bus systems, with walkable urban areas and amenities. The MD-side of the beltway just outside of the District is so car-centric and all residential it sucks. Even spots in DC, east of the river next to metro stops (NE and SE) with room mates are still going for like $7-$800 w/o utilities and the cheaper spots west of the river in NE get snatched up very quickly.

the DC area is nice but these prices are

outside of the city just to live with room mates. I can't wait to **** here. hopefully i can land a job in Chicago or Philly where you have more variety in prices AND be able to live in the city. 

 

[crystalmethod]

$1000 for a one bedroom :x
In AZ a one bedroom can be found for $400-$450.

This is why I wanna move south.
Cost of rent/mortgage in north east is wayyy to high

 

[krazyl3gz]

Off that salary no way. Even without the car payments that's iffy...

 

[Grine]

Better try Jersey.

 

[penalize]

dont do it...you will be back home in a couple weeks..

but if you do decide to do it...you have to supplement that income...

youre in NYC? theres nothing but opportunity out there.

ill leave this here....thank me later...

View media item 196625

 

[chino905]

dude, i've been thinking about the same thing for some time now. i make about $2,100 per month after taxes and still live at home with the parents. I've been browsing around online for 1br apts to rent in NYC, but the cheapest i've seen is going for at least $1,100/month in not so great neighborhoods. after doing realistic calcuations for my monthly costs (and i don't even have a car), I would end up living paycheck to paycheck, barely getting by.

Like others have said, the best thing for you to do right now if you really want to get out of your parents is to rent a room with roommates to save on cost and utilities. Some places even have utilities already included. it's not as good as having your own apt, but if you are set on moving out of your parent's house, this seems like the logical choice for now until you make more.

 

[americangenius]

1600 a month in NYC? You trying to move out on a McDonald's salary or something? You need to make at least double that to live here.

 

[nazdrowie]

I have to agree with you. The DC area rental market is definitely tough. I knew that living in DC by myself wasn't even an option with my budget unless I had a roommate so I decided to look for something in VA or MD that was close to a metro. I looked for a place to live by myself with rent less than $1,200 for two months with no success until my current living situation fell into my lap. I wasn't looking for a random roommate but fortunately I ended up meeting someone who is a few years older than me but has a lot in common with me and we get along well. I live about a mile away from the metro and from there it takes me about 45 minutes to get into work. My job covers $125/month for metro but that doesn't include parking ($4/day) and that doesn't fully cover my metro fare which is about $200 a month. It also sucks commuting an hour each way to and from work but I had it worse before.
My girlfriends parents are paying the rent in her new apartment. Her apartment is a studio apartment on Rhode Island Ave and the rent is like $1,800

I think I'm going to be staying at her place a lot on week days now. I can sleep in later and don't have to pay for parking every day. She said she's going to buy me some new work clothes/shoes to keep at her place so I'll stay there more

. There is like no parking around where she lives though. It is really aggravating trying to find parking in DC

yea i learned to be a cheaper person when it comes living arrangements so i dont care about room mates but i do care about location. when i lived in the city i stayed in Foggy Bottom and not needing a car was great but my rent was $900 for a tiny *** room in a townhouse. never doing that again. I see house shares in Columbia Heights, Petworth, near the Convention Center going for like 650-750 but those get snatched up or there are like 30 applicants.

ill probably be looking to move closer to DC within the next 6 months and im hoping to grab a spot with room mates within walking distance to PG Plaza or Wheaton for like $600-700. i check CL listings religiously just so i can see what they are going for. ive also been checking spots up Rhode Island Ave (near Langdon Park) and prices are still high but doable with room mates. id much rather live in Baltimore right behind the stadiums and take the MARC in on the camden line. ive seen spots within walking distance to the Camden MARC station with room mates for like $450-500. unfortunately i work in downtown Bethesda so that union station to Bethesda ride would be an additional 30 min ride on top of the hour MARC ride. i also currently get free bus tickets from where i stay in Columbia to downtown silver spring and then hop one of the metro buses that get me to my office in Bethesda so for now, its easier and cheaper.

 

[mrdozo]

I do suggest dropping the car, that'll put more $ in your bank. Do not do a roommate. They are most times un-reliable and if they dont pay their portion of the rent, youre both screwed.
Drop the car, get a pre-paid phone, save $ for like 3+ months.

nyc is too damn expensive.

 

[johnny cakes]

And here I was questioning if I should move out on 5 stacks a month salary lol

 

[penalize]

if you are really clearing 5 "stacks", you should have left months ago....

 

[akuratl02]

if you are really clearing 5 "stacks", you should have left months ago....

+1 .. moved out and own.

smh ... underlying e-cred perhaps ...

 

[numberr97]

I dont know where you guys are looking for apartments in NYC, but if it's a building, most places require you to have a certain salary a month. For instance some buildings require you to make 3-4x the rent per month, and that's the cheaper building. So if rent is 1000 they want you to be making 4k on your pay stub that you show them.

 

[Mark Antony]

if you are really clearing 5 "stacks", you should have left months ago....

Seriously. Who would even question that?

 

[blackredxiiigoat]

I dont know where you guys are looking for apartments in NYC, but if it's a building, most places require you to have a certain salary a month. For instance some buildings require you to make 3-4x the rent per month, and that's the cheaper building. So if rent is 1000 they want you to be making 4k on your pay stub that you show them.

Good point.

My building had that type of rule, but luckily also had a stipulation that (kind of) allowed me to get around it.

My lease has both my and my gf's name on it. At the time that we signed the lease, she was employed with a salary but I was not, and her salary alone did not match the total income requirement for 2 ppl for the amount of rent we were paying.

Because I had a somewhat substantial amount of savings at the time, that covered the difference as long as I showed the prop manager a copy of my savings statement.

Allowed us to sign the lease and get the place. Luckily I found work a month before moving in. In retrospect, it wasnt the smartest way to go about the process but it worked out.